Bertrand L, Doucet J, Dumas P, Simionovici A, Tsoucaris G, Walter P
Centre de Recherche et de Restauration des Musées de France, UMR 171 du CNRS, 6 Rue des Pyramides, Paris, France.
J Synchrotron Radiat. 2003 Sep 1;10(Pt 5):387-92. doi: 10.1107/s0909049503015334. Epub 2003 Aug 28.
Developments in microfocus synchrotron techniques have led to new results regarding the long-term alteration of archaeological samples of biological origin. Here, ancient hair samples from two Egyptian mummies have been analyzed using a conjunction of structural and elemental synchrotron methods. In this favored context of conservation, structural analysis revealed a remarkable preservation of keratin supramolecular organization at any observed length scale. Bulk keratin structure has therefore not been modified significantly over 2000 years. However, infrared spectroscopy indicated a partial disorganization of keratins close to the hair surface through polypeptide bond breakage. Elemental mapping showed a strongly heterogeneous distribution which can be related to mummification and cosmetic treatments.
微聚焦同步加速器技术的发展带来了有关生物源考古样本长期变化的新成果。在此，利用结构和元素同步加速器方法相结合，对来自两具埃及木乃伊的古代毛发样本进行了分析。在这种有利的保存环境下，结构分析显示在任何观察到的长度尺度上，角蛋白超分子结构都得到了显著保存。因此，整体角蛋白结构在两千多年间并未发生显著改变。然而，红外光谱表明靠近毛发表面的角蛋白通过多肽键断裂出现了部分无序化。元素映射显示出强烈的不均匀分布，这可能与木乃伊化和美容处理有关。
